Quantum Tunneling Explained- A Way To Time Travel?

Hello, again today :). What will I try to do now? I will try to make quantum tunneling explained with as simple words as possible. There are no actual very simple ways to explain this phenomenon, but I will try to find a way to help you to understand it. As I said in a previous post, Dr. Anderson said that this could be one way of time traveling that is available for our technology.

What is quantum tunneling?

It is a part of quantum mechanics, a branch of physics. Electrons have wave-like properties and they can pass through impenetrable barriers. This is the phenomenon called quantum tunneling.

Quantum mechanics says that electrons can behave like waves and also like particles. They can pass an energy barrier if it is thin enough, so to make it more simple, particles can pass through walls, doors if they are thin enough.

Quantum tunneling plays an important role in nuclear fusion in the sun, flash memory for the computers and scanning tunneling microscopy.

What about time traveling, with the help of this technology?

What is Dr. Anderson’s theory? If there is a proper wavelength and the right tunneling barrier, it makes it possible for signals faster then the light to pass through. They can travel backward in time.

This possibility of tunneling was discovered in 1927 by F. Hund and now, the quantum physicists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology thinks that it is possible to create a time machine that will not be affected by the grandfather Paradox, traveling in the past.

If you are not aware of this, scientists are already able to transport particles from one place to another with this technology, but it is possible for particles to travel in the past and in the future. So if yes, can it be also for humans?

Seth Loyd claims that using the same principles like in teleportation and also post selection (a quantum effect), it is possible to take the quantum teleportation effect backward, in reverse.

Post selection is a part of the science of quantum computing which is a further enhancement on traditional computing. To give you an example, imagine a computer going from one problem-solving task to the next and to the next and so forth. In quantum computing, all the tasks would be handled at the same time.

So if you combine post selection with teleportation, which is a quantum behavior of the particles, we can build a time machine, said Seth Lloyd. Teleportation, in simple words is to send or reproduce at a certain point in space (or in this case and in time) a quantum state that existed before in another place. If this process can happen in reverse we can have time travel backwards in the past. But the post selection shows that only certain states can be teleported. This is a nice theory, a way to time travel that will avoid grandfather paradox, but more details about Lloyds time machine in another article if you are interested.

But Lloyds conclusion was that post-selection occurs if quantum mechanics is non-linear. This was possible only in theory until now, and the scientists think that quantum mechanics is linear. But if a non-linear behavior is proved, time travel is possible so particles and also humans can travel from the future to the past.

Experiments done

Some scientists wanted to simulate time travel using particles of light, sending them in the past and bringing them back to their space – time and place. These particles were acting as quantum particles. So scientists decided to find a way to combine general relativity and quantum mechanics.

They used a single photon for the experiment and the time travel was simulated by a second photon playing the role of a younger or older self of the first photon.

As we said, the particles of light the scientists from the University of Queensland used in the experiments are called photons. In this experiment, they wanted to see how the photons behaved while moving through space and time.

What do we know now?

Particles can pass through a wall, and electrons that are bound to an atom can sometimes escape. This is what we call quantum tunneling.

This process is possible because of the fact that particles can behave like a wave.

Physicists at the Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science led by Dror Shafir, used a laser light to reduce the strength of the energy barrier that in normal conditions would trap the electron in a helium atom. So the electron found its way and tunneled through the barrier, but the laser also brought the electron back after the tunneling.

Electrons don’t exist in the same time in a single place as a single particle

We also know that electrons tunnels in a very short time, less than a few hundred attoseconds.

What do scientists say?

A physicist from the Leinz Universitat Hannover in Germany, Manfred Lein said ‘Electrons are described by wave functions that extend smoothly from the inside to outside of atoms – part of the electron is always outside the atom.’

Nirit Dudovich, a member of this team of researchers, said ‘We are trying to trace back to the point where the electron left the barrier and say exactly when during the cycle the electron left the barrier.’

So to measure this, the researchers used the laser to push the electron away, avoiding his recombining with the atom.

This was the first time when the theories became reality and they knew exactly the time needed for tunneling.

Dudovich said also ‘We know this phenomenon initiates many fast processes which are very basic in nature. So we can think of this as we really measured the first step in many processes in nature.’

What I think

I think that all these things are a big step to time travel for humans, and quantum mechanics will solve the time travel mystery. Maybe today only particles can time travel but I am sure there will be a way to make it possible for us soon. Our scientists are making progress every day and from the 10 ways of time travel that Dr Anderson talked about, Quantum tunneling is one of the closest to our technology. I just can wait for the big step and for sure I will back for updates 🙂

Thanks for reading and if it is something you want to ask, you are welcome to leave me a comment.

14 Comments

So if it’s linear, meaning time is basically a line, then that essentially makes it impossible to go to the past, or even to the future.

However, if it’s a circle (or a wave), then I can in theory jump from one point to another and back again.

Is that the gist?

I kind of get the “all things have to happen at once” paradigm. It’s basically set theory right? Since you are in a way taking two sets (the present and all it encompasses and the past (or future) and all it encompasses), you pretty much have to act on both sets (and all that means) in order to affect either one.

I’ve considered this from many angles over the years, but it’s a maddening thought process full of paradoxes (including and beyond the grandfather paradox) that stymies the mind and foils my feeble brain.

Let me start to say that before reading your post the only knowledge I had about it is what I heard in movies and TV shows (all fictional). It’s great to have some actual facts instead (in a less complicated way). So thank you for this post.
However the concept is still very difficult for me to understand: are particles and electrons similar? And what was the last study published on this subject?
I agree with you that its a a big step to time travel for humans.

photons are particles, for example, particles of light.The last article…are many studies about his but I am sure is difficult for us to understand them. I am not a scientist also, and you should be a physicist to understand dome of the studies. Are very complex. I know something about physics and I try to make these studies easy for people to read,
Progress is done every day and I promise I will come soon back with updates:))
Thanks for reading and for your interest.
It is something special you would like to know about?
Cristina

I just can’t get my head around the circularity of time travel concepts. So, if I go back in time and make sure that my Father never met my Mother, how was I born in the first place so that I could then go back in time to stop them from meeting …

arghhh!

Is there a logical explanation of how this could work even if it was theoretically possible to go back in time?

To answer to your comment you have to read my next post about grandfather paradox,because this is what happen. Are 2 possibilities. or you kill him and you create a totally new time line or the universe will stop you to kill him, as hard as you try.

Thanks for visiting my site and for your comment. if there is any other thing related to the subject you would like to know, just ask 🙂

As a linguist and by consequence good in languages and sadly very bad in science, I can tell you that I understood your article, which is a big compliment 🙂
I read books about quantum mechanica and the really amazing consequences it has on the way we perceive reality and it intrigues me. So I will time travel to your website again and read about the wonderful new inventions and about movies concerning time travelling. 🙂

Thanks for your nice words:) If i could write so simple that even the people which doesn’t;know to much about science could easily understand…i am happy. This is exactly what i wanted. I wanted my site to be for everybody 🙂

I am glad that you enjoyed reading my posts and if there is something you would like to know about..just ask:)

Interesting theories. Quantum tunnelling experimentation using light particles is beyond my simple brain. Time travel does fascinate me and maybe we might get to witness it in our lifetime. And yeah, the paradoxes confuse the heck out of me.

Following Kristian’s earlier question, if I went back in time and the universe allowed me to prevent my parents from meeting, would I then vanish from that time line similar to when Bruce Willis vanished at the end of the Looper movie? And would everyone I know forget that I existed?

ok, for more details about what will happen if you go back in time to klill your grandfather read this. Is a post about this paradox. I am glad that you enjoyed it 🙂

I hope we will see possible time travel in our life time too:) I also think is already very closed to this our technology but..i am not very sure how close:) maybe is already possible .I would like to experience it , to be honest .

Hello, WOW! Fascinating information. I read your article, and my mind is blown away. It sounds like we are on the verge of using this technology. I guess we are closer to the phrase used in Star Trek “Beam Me Up, Scotty” closer than we all realize. There was an exciting show on television not too long ago that spoke of this research. The show ended with if you don’t believe we are using time travel right now you are mistaken.
I know you tried to explain Quantum Tunneling in layman’s terms, but I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around it.
Thanks for sharing,
Kevin

I tried my best to make it simple but is not so simple ,i know:) I don’t know about the show you are talking but…maybe its true.

So beam me up Scotty:) I hope we will be able soon to find out all the secret about time travel and ready to go. I also think we are very close.

I am glad that you enjoyed my article and thank you for visiting my site. Of course Quantum tunneling is not the only way to time travel/ It may be possible through black holes, travelling faster than the speed of light..and other.We will see how humanity will succeed finally.

What if using the phenomenon of tunnelling can extend the width of wormholes which can possibly find a way to parallel universe and time travel. wormholes are created by very strong energy having a speed faster than light, for instance, tachyons. If I get the proper ambience of big labs with quantum computers I can make it possible it is in my head. This is only be obtained by computing first small living beings through wormholes.

Do you think a living being will survive? Do you think a human body will handle the process? it is a brilliant idea and if once will be possible i would like to know. Even if you find a huge black hole and an extended wormhole connecting two universes…Do you think would be possible to pass through without die?

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